1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing technology suitably applicable to interactive environments specific to two-way interactive systems constructed of a plurality of terminal equipments connected to a network and, more particularly, to coding and decoding methods for motion-image data transmitted and received between the terminal equipments, and other techniques.
2. Related Background Art
Proposals have been made in recent years about two-way interactive systems for realizing intimate dialogue interactions such as video conferencing and counseling between or among interlocutors at remote places while displaying an image of an each other's partner interlocutor in an eye contact state with each other on a monitor. A variety of techniques have been proposed heretofore about this eye contact technology, and eye contact is achieved by placing an imaging device such as a CCD camera at a predetermined position of the monitor displaying the partner interlocutor image (cf. Japanese Patent No. 3074677).